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No.  37. 
NAPOLEON'S  ARGUMENT 

FOR 

THE    DIVINITY    OF   CHRIST, 

AND 

THE'  SCRIPTURES, 

IN  A   CONVERSATION   WITH   GENERAL   BERTRAND,  AT 
ST.    HELENA. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH. 


"True,  Christ  offers  to  our  faith  a  series  of  mysteries. 
He  commands  us  authoritatively  to  believe,  and  gives 
no  other  reason  than  his  awful  word,  I  am  God. 

"True,  this  is  an  article  of  mere  faith,  and  upon  it 
depend  all  the  other  articles  of  the  Christian  system  ; 
but  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Clirist  once  admitted, 
Christianity  appears  with  the  precision  and  clearness 
of  algebra;  it  ha-s  the  connectedness  and  unity  of  a 
science. 

"This  doctrine,  resting  upon  the  Bible,  best  explains 
the  .traditions  pr<'valent  in  the  world.  It  throws  light 
upon  them;  and  all  the  other  doctrines  of  Christianity 
are  strictly  connected  with  it,  as  links  of  the  same 
chain.  The  nature  of  Christ's  existence  is  mysterious, 
I  admit;  but  this  mystery  meets  ihe  wants  of  man; 
reject  it,  and  the  world  is  an  inexplicable  riddle — be- 
lieve it,  and  the  histo'ry  of  our  race  is  satisfactorily 
explained. 

Christianity  has  one  advantage  over^^all  systems,  of 


M  NAPOLEON    ON    THE    DIVINITY    OF    CHRIST. 

philosophy,  and  all  religions;  Christians  do  not  delude 
themselves  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  things.  You 
cannot  reproach  them  with  the  subtleties  and  artifices 
of  those  idealists  who  think  to  solve  profound  theologi- 
cal problems  by  their  empty  dissertations.  Fools! 
their  efforts  are  those  of  the  infant  who  tries  to  touch 
the  sky  with  his  hand,  or  cries  to  have  the  moon  for  his 
plaything.  Christianity  says  simply,  'No  man  hath 
seen  God  but  God.  God  reveals  what  he  is;  his  revela- 
tion is  a  mystery  which  neither  imagination  nor  reason 
can  conceive.  But  when  God  speaks,  man  must  be- 
lieve.'    This  is  sound  common-sense. 

"  The  Gospel  possesses  a  secret  virtue  of  indescriba- 
ble efhcacy,  a  warmth  which  influences  the  understand- 
ing and  softens  the  heart  ;  in  meditating  upon  it,  you 
feel  as  you  do  in  contemplating  the  heavens.  The  gos- 
pel is  more  than  a  book  ;  it  is  a  living  thing — active, 
powerful,  overcoming  every  obstacle  in  its  way.  See 
upon  this  table  this  book  of  books/^  and  here  the  em- 
peror touched  it  reverently;  '*  I  never  cease  reading  it, 
and  always  with  new  delight. 

'' Christ  never  hesitates,  never  varies  in  his  instruc- 
tions, and  the  least  of  his  assertions  is  stamped  with  a 
simplicity  and  a  depth  which  captivate  the  ignorant  and 
the  learned,  if  they  give  it  their  attention. 

"Nowhere  is  to  be  found  such  a  series  of  beautiful 
thouohis,  fine  moral  maxims,  following  one  another  like 
ranks  of  a  celestial  army,  and  producing  in  the  soul' the 
same  emotion  as  is  felt  in  contemplating  the  infinite 
extent  of  the  resplendent  heavens  on  a  fine  summer 
night. 

"  Not  only  is  our  mind  absorbed;  it  is  controlled,  and 
the  soul  can  never  go  astray  with. this  book  for  its  guide. 

*'  Once  master  of  our  mind,  the  gospel  is  a  faithful 
friend.  God  himself  is  our  Friend,  our  Father,  and 
truly  our  God.     A  mother  has  not  greater  care  for  the 


NAPOLEON    ON    THE    DIVINITY    OF    CHRIST.  \i 

infant  on  her  breast.  The  soul,  captivated  by  the 
beauty  of  the  gospel,  is  no  longer  its  own.  God  occu- 
pies it  altogether  J  he  directs  its  thoughts  and  all  its 
faculties  ;  it  is  his.  ** 

"  What  a  proof  it  is  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  that 
with  so  absolute  an  empire,  his  single  aim  is  the 
spiritual  melioration  of  individuals,  their  purity  of  con- 
science, their  union  to  the  truth,  their  holiness  of  soul. 

''My  last  argument  is,  there  is  not  a  God  in  heaven, 
if  a  mere  man  was  able  to  conceive  and  execute  success- 
fully the  gigantic  design  of  making  himself  the  object 
of  supreme  worship,  by  usurping  the  name  of  God. 
Jesus  alone  dared  to  do  this:  he  alone  said  clearly  and 
unfalteringly  of  himself,  I  am  God;  which  is  quite  dif- 
ferent from  saying,  /  am  a  god,  or  there  are  gods. 
History  mentions  no  other  individual  who  has  appro- 
priated to  himself  the  title  of  God  in  the  absolute  sense. 
Heathen  mythology  nowhere  pretends  that  Jupiter  and 
the  other  gods  themselves  assumed  divinity.  It  would 
have  been  on  their  part  the  height  of  pride  and  absurd- 
ity. They  were  deified  by  their  posterity,  the  heifs  of 
the  first  despots.  As  all  men  are  of  one  race,  Alexander 
could  call  himself  the  son  of  Jupiter;  but  Greece 
laughed  at  the  silly  assumption  ;  and  so,  in  making  gods 
of  their  emperors,  the  Romans  were  not  serious.  Ma- 
homet and  Confucius  merely  gave  out  that  they  were 
agents  of  the  Deity.  Numa's  goddess  Egeria  was  only 
the  personification  of  his  reflectfons  in  the  solitude  of 
the  woods.  The  Brahmas  of  India  are  only  deifications 
of  mental  attributes. 

''  How,  then,  should  a  Jew,  the  particulars  of  whose 
history  are  better  attested  than  that  of  any  of  his  con- 
temporaries— how  should  he  alone,  the  son  of  a  carpen- 
ter, give  out  all  at  once  that  he  was  God,  the  Creator  of 
all  things?  He  arrogates  to  himself  the  highest  adora- 
tion.     He  conslructs   his  worship   with   his  own   hands, 


4  NAPOLEON    ON    THE    DIVINITY    OF    CHRIST. 

not  witli  stones  but  with  men.  You  are  amazed  at  the 
conquests  of  Alexander.  But  here  is  a  conqueror  who 
appropriates  to  his  own  advantage,  who  incorporates 
with  himself  not  a  natitin,  but  the  human  race.  Won- 
derful !  the  human  soul  with  all  its  faculties  becomes 
blended  with  the  existence  of  Christ. 

"And  how?  by  a  prodigy  surpassing  all  other  prodi- 
gies he  seeks  the  love  of  men,  the  most  difficult  thing 
in  the  world  lo  obtain  ;  he  seeks  what  a  wise  man  would 
fain  have  from  a  few  friends,  a  father  from  his  children, 
a  wife  from  her  husband,  a  brother  from  a  brother — in  a 
word,  the  heart  ;  this  he  seeks,  this  he  absolutely  re- 
quires, and  he  gains  his  object.  Hence,  [  infer  his 
divinity.  Alexander,  Caesar,  Hannibal,  Louis  XIV, 
with  all  their  genius,  failed  here.  They  conquered  the 
world  and  had  not  a  friend.  I  am,  perhaps,  the  only 
person  of  my  day  who  loves  Hannibal,  Caesar,  Alexan- 
der. Louis  XIV,  who  shed  so  much  lustre  upon  France 
and  the  world,  had  not  a  friend  in  all  his  kingdom,  not 
even  in  his  own  family.  True,  we  love  our  children, 
but  h  is  from  instinct,  from  a  necessity  which  the  beasts 
themselves  obej'' ;  and  how  many  children  manifest  no 
proper  sense  of  our  kindness  and  the  cares  we  bestow 
on  them  —  how  many  ungrateful  children?  Do  your 
children,  General  Berlrand,  love  you?  you  love  them, 
but  you  are  not  sure  of  being  requited.  Neither  natural 
affection  nor  your  kindness,  will  ever  inspire  in  them 
such  love  as  Christians  have  for  God.  When  you  die 
your  children  will  remember  you  — doubtless  while 
spending  your  money;  but  your  grandchildren  will 
hardly  know  that  you  ever  existed.  And  yet  you  are 
General  Bertrand  I  And  we  are  here  upon  an  island, 
where  all  your  cares  and  all  your  enjoyments  are  cen- 
tered in  your  family. 

"Christ  speaks,  and  at  once  generations  become  his 
by  stricter,  closer  ties  than  those  of  blood  j  by  the  most 


NAPOLEON    ON    THE    DIVINITY    OF    CHRIST.  6 

sacred,  most  indissoluble  of  all  unions.  He  liglits  up 
the  flame  of  love  which  consumes  self-love,  which  pre- 
vails over  every  other  love. 

''In  this  wonderful  power  of  hi!^ will  we  recognize  the 
Word  that  created  the  world. 

"The  founders  of  other  religions  never  conceived  of 
this  mystical  love,  which  is  the  essence  of  Christianity, 
and  is  beautifully  called  charity. 

''  Hence  it  is  that  they  have  struck  upon  a  rock.  In 
every  attempt  to  effect  this  thingr,  nainely,  to  make  him- 
self beloved,  man  deeply  feels  his  own  impotence. 

"  So  that  Christ's  greatest  miracle  undoubtedly  is  the 
reign  of  charity. 

"  He  alone  succeeded  in  lifting  the  heart  of  man  to 
things  invisible,  and  in  inducing  him  to  sacrifice  tempo- 
ral things  ;  he  alone,  by  influeneing  him  to  this  sacri- 
fice, has  formed  a  bond  of  union  between  heaven  and 
earth. 

''All  who  sincerely  believe  in  him  taste  this  wonder- 
ful, supernatural,  exalted  love,  which  is  beyond  the 
power  of  rea-on,  above  the  ability  of  man  ;  a  sacred  fire 
brought  down  to  earth  by  this  new  Prometheus,  and  of 
which  Time,  the  great  destroyer,  can  neither  e.xhaust 
the  force,  nor  limit  the  duration.  The  more  I,"  Napo- 
leon, "think  of  this,  I  admire  it  the  more.  And  it  con- 
vinces me  absolutely  of  the  divinity  of  Christ. 

"I  have  inspired  multitudes  with  such  aff'.-ction  for 
me  that  they  wouidjB^ie  for  me.  » God  forbid  that  I 
should  compare  the  soldier's  enthusiasm  with  Christian 
charity,  which  are  as  unlike  as  their  cause. 

•'But,  after  all,  my  presence  was  necessary,  th'.;  light- 
ning of  my  eye,  my  voice,  a  word  from  me;  then  the 
sacred  fire  was  kindled  in  their  hearts.  I  do,  indeed, 
possess  the  secret  of  this  magical  power  which  lifts  the 
soul,  but  I  could   never  impart  it  to  any   one;   none  of 


NAPOLEON    ON    TH^E    DIVINITY    OF    CHRIST. 

y^  generals  ever  learnt  it  from  me  ;  nor  have  I  the  se- 
t)f  perpetuating;  my  name  and  love  for  me  in  the 
he'tirts  of  men,  and  to  effect  these  things  without  physi- 
cal means.  ** 

''Now  that  I  am  at  St.  Elelena — now  that  I  am  alone, 
chained  to  this  rock,  who  fights  and  wins  empires  for 
me?  Where  are  any 'to  share  my  misfortune — any  to 
think  of  me?  Who  bestirs  himself  for  me  in  Europe? 
Who  remains  faithful  to  me;  where  are  my  friends? 
Yes,  two  or  three  of  you,  who  are  immortalized  by  this 
fidelity,  ye  share,  ye  alleviate  my  exile." 

Here  the  emperor's  voice  choked  with  grief. 

"Yes,  my  life  once  shone  with  all  the  brilliance  of 
the  diadem  and  the  throne,  and  yours,  Bertrand,  re- 
flected that  brill  ance,  as  the  dome  of  the  'Invalides,' 
gilt  by  me,  reflects  the  rays  of  the  sun.  But  disasters 
came,  the  gold  gradually  became  dim,  and  now  all  the 
brightness  is  effaced  by  tbe  rain  of  misfortune  and  out- 
rage with  which  1  am  continually  pelted.  We  are 
mere  lead  now.  General  Bertrand,  and  soon  I  shall  be 
in  my  grave. 

'^Such  is  the  fate  of  great  men  So  it  was  with 
Csesar  and  Alexander,  and  I,  too,  am  forgotten;  and  the 
name  of  a  conqueror  and  an  emperor  is  a  college 
theme  I  our  exploits  are  tasks  given  to  pupils  by  their 
tutor,  who  sits  in  judgment  upon  us,  awarding  us  cen- 
sure or  praise. 

''How  different  the  opinions  formed  of  the  great 
Louis  XIV.  Scarcely  dead,  the  great  king  was  left 
alone  in  his  solitary  chamber  at  Versailles — neglected 
by  his  courtiers,  and,  perhaps,  the  object  of  their  ridi- 
cule. He  was  no  more  their  master.  He  was  a  dead 
body,  in  his  cofiin,  the  prey  of  a  loathsome  putrefaction. 

"  And  mark  what  is  soon  to  become  of  me — assassi- 
nated by  the  English  oligarchy,  1  die   before  my   time, 


•fel^ 


vl* 


V'  NAPOLEON    ON    THE    DIVINt¥V    OF    CHRIST.  I 

and  my  dead  body,  too,  must  return  to  the  earth  to  be- 
come food  for  worms. 

''Such  is  soon  to  be  the  fate  of  the  great  Napoleon. 
What  a  wide  abyss  between  my  deep  misery  and  the 
eternal  kingdom  of  Christ,  wliich  is  proclaimed,  loved, 
adored,  and  which  is  extending  over  all  the  earth  !  Is 
this  death  !  is  it  not  life  rather?  The  death  of  Christ 
is  the  death  of  a  god." 

The  emperor  paused,  and  as  General  Bertrand  did 
not  answer,  the  emperor  resumed  : 

"You  do  not  perceive  that  Jesus  Christ  is  God?  then 
I  did  wrong  to  appoint  you  general  !" 


The  above  is  translated  from  a  French  tract,  printed 
in  Paris,  with  the  title  "  Najioleon."  The  narrative  is 
confirmed  by  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  G.  De  Felice, 
professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Montauban, 
France,  in  a  communication  inserted  in  the  New  York 
Observer  of  April  16,  1842. 

Professor  De  Felice  states,  that  the  Rev,  Dr.  Bogue 
sent  Napoleon,  at  St.  Helena,  a  copy  of  his  "  Essay  on 
the  Divine  Authority  of  the  New  Testament,"  which 
eye-witnesses  attest  that  Lp  read  with  interest  and 
satisfaction.  He  also  sta1&s,'''-that  similar  witnesses 
at',est  that  he  read  much  in  the  Bible,  and  spoke  of  it 
with  profound  respect;  and,  further,  that  there  was  a 
religious  revival  among  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Helena, 
which  extended  to  the  soldiers,  who  prayed  much  for 
the  conversion  and  salvation  of  the  noble  jirisoner. 
Professor  De  Felice <g;i^es  his  communication  by  trans- 
lating from  a  recent  French  journal  the  following  con- 
versation related  by  Count  de  Montholon,  the  faithful 
friend  of  the  eniperor. 

"I  know  men,"  said  Napoleon,  "and  I  tell  you  that 
Jesus  is  not  a  man  ! 

"The  religion  of  Christ  is  a  mystery  which  subsists 
by  its  own  force,  and  proceed  5  from  a  mind  which  is 
not  a  human  mind.  We  find  in  it  a  marked  individual- 
ity,   which    originated    a   train    of   words  and   maxims 


8  NAPOLKON    ON    THE    DIVINITY    OK    CHRIST. 

unknown  before — Jesus  borrowed  nothingr  from  our 
knowledge.  He  exliibited  in  himself  the  perfect  exam- 
ple of  his  precepts.  Jesus  is  rot  m  philosopher;  for  his 
])roofs  are  miracles,  ajjj^d  _from  the  first  his  disciples 
adored  him.  In  fact,  le"arning  and  philosophy  are  of  no 
use  for  salvation  ;  ^nd  Jesus  came  into  the 'world  to  re- 
veal the  mysteries  of  heaven  and  the  laws  of  the  Spirit. 

"  Alexander,  Csesar,  Charlemagne,  and  myself  found- 
ed empires;-  but  upon  what  did  we  rest  the  creations  of 
our  genius  ?  Upoa  force.  Tesus  Christ  alone  founded 
his  empire  upon  love  ^  and  at  this  hour  millions  of  men 
would  die  for  him. 

''It  was  not  a  day  or  a  battle  which  achieved  tlie 
triumph  of  the  Christian  r  ;ligion  in*  the  world.  No  j 
it  was  a  long-  war,  a  contest  ^or  three  centuries,  begun 
by  the  apostles,  then  concn'^  -■  by  the  flood  of  Chris- 
tian generations.  In  tliis  war  all  the  kings  and  poten- 
tates of  earth  were  on  one  side  :  on  the  other  I  see  no 
army  but  a  mysterious  force,  some  men  scattered  here 
and  there  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  who  have  no 
other  rallying  point  than  a  common  faith  in  the  myste- 
ries of  the  cross. 

''  I  die  before  my  time,  and  my  body  will  be  given 
back  to  ihe  earth  to  become  food  for  worms.  Such  is 
|he  fate  which  so  soon  awaits  him  who  has  been  called 
the  great  Napoleon.  What  an  abyss  between  my  deep 
misery  and  the  eternal ii^dom  of  Christ,  which  is 
proclaimed,  loved,  aod^aaored,  and  which  is  extending 
over  the  whole  earth!  Call  you  this  dying;  is  it  not 
living  r.u.ther?  The  death  of  Christ  is  the  death  of  a 
God  !" 


■"^m:. 


PUBLISHED   BY  THE  SOUTH   CAROLINA  TRACT  SOCIETY. 

Printed  by  Evaus  &  Cogswell,  No.  3  Broad  street,  Chaileston,  S.  C. 


HoUinger  Corp. 
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